Negotiations on Syria in Doha

1 Yemen

The ’Reuters’ reported that the Riyadh-led Arab coalition attacked the Yemeni rebel ’Ansar Allah’ movement in the city of Marib. It was reported that as a result of the attack, one air defense crew was destroyed.

2 Qatar — Syria

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stated during a joint press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Qatar, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mohammed bin Abdel Rahman Al Thani, that Russia, Qatar and Turkey, «underline the importance of urgent humanitarian aid to the Syrians, including the help against the consequences of the coronavirus infection, as well as the aid in the restoration of the civilian infrastructure, destroyed during the war. Sergey Lavrov noted that «the solution of these urgent matters is being slowed down by the illegitimate one-sided Western sanctions, which were introduced against the legitimate authorities of Syria, and they mostly harm the entire Syrian people’’. The ministers underlined that in all the actions of their countries, and in the actions of other countries, it is necessary to respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. The Qatari Foreign Minister added that he considers the 3-way consultations on Syria with Russia and Turkey to be useful. He expects them to be regular. The ministers underlined the need to continue the fight against the terrorism, to ensure the territorial integrity of Syria, and to resolve the conflict by political, not military means. They expressed their support for the UN-backed peace process, and the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and the inter-Syrian talks in Geneva. The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, stated that the next round of talks on Syria in the ’Russia-Turkey-Qatar’ format will be held in Turkey. He concluded that the parties decided to continue such negotiations on a regular basis.

3 The USA — Iran

While speaking at a hearing at the House of Foreign Relations Committee on the foreign policy priorities of the Joe Biden’s team, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, stated that the USA intend to ease the sanctions against Iran only after Tehran returns to the ’Joint Comprehensive Action Plan’. He also confirmed that Washington won’t make concessions to Tehran just to organize the negotiations between US and Iranian officials.

4 The USA — Afghanistan

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, stated that the US administration haven’t taken decisions on Afghanistan so far, including regarding the presence of the US troops in the country. He explained that the USA are developing a concept of deploying troops in Afghanistan, with a deadline on 1st of May. He noted that Washington wants to see where the efforts will lead to get the parties in Afghanistan to interact in a meaningful way. Blinken added that the Taliban promised to reduce the scale of violence and refuse to harbor and support other terrorists. He concluded that the USA want the Taliban to fulfill those obligations.

5 Armenia

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, intends to re-sent to President Armen Sarkissian his proposal to appoint Artak Davtyan as the new chief of the General Staff of the country’s armed forces — the TASS news agency reported while citing the governmental press service. Earlier, the press service of the presidential administration reported that the President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, decided to not sign the proposal from the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, on the appointment of Artak Davtyan as the new head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and to return the proposal with objections.

6 Abkhazia

The opposition Abkhazian organization of veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz war «Aruaa» proposed to the President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, to resign, and to call early elections in the parliament. The chairman of the organization, Timur Gulia, stated that «a series of mistakes by the authorities led not only to an energy crisis, but also to a political crisis in the country». He criticized the foreign policy of Abkhazia, which considers, among other things, the possibility of negotiations with Georgia. Timur Gulia explained that he considers such negotiations with Georgia before it recognizes Abkhazia to be «a betrayal of the national interests». Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.